Bromeliad Conservation

Alert Codes Used in FCBS Species Database

More and more Bromeliaceae are being placed as endangered plants under the criteria set out by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Anyone who has visited their website will be astounded as the breadth of the problem and conservation of Bromeliads tends to get swamped. We are one-eyed in that we believe we should be investigating our own problems and try to do something about them.

We have decided to bring the problem closer to home so you can appreciate how we are involved.
We will be adding the following data in the Remarks section of the Species databaseCITES ALERT for plants unders CITESCR ALERT for plants under the IUCN code for Critically EndangeredEN ALERT for plants under the IUCN code for EndangeredVU ALERT for plants under the IUCN code for VulnerableEXTINCT for plants thought to be extinct in the wild

Clicking on any of these will give you a list of the plants concerned. Clicking on ALERT will give all those under those headings

Although not much help in Conservation in the wild you can click on EXTINCT to find those that are past the point of no return. If the plant is in cultivation, and properly identified, there is all the more reason to see it survives.

Why are we telling you all this? We hope it will raise the awareness of endangered species so that perhaps this will raise their retail price. A higher price means more people will want to have one which in turn will encourage the propagators of the world to sow seed, take offsets and even meristem. This will take pressure off the plants in the wild and with the increased profits the sellers may well give a small percentage to the BSI Conservation Fund, A win win situation.

Our prime aim must be to try to conserve these plants in the wild, but if we can, encourage the cultivation of them rather than using them to create even more hybrids.

If you are aware of any additions to these lists or amendments please let us know.